On March 28, 1915, the first American citizen is killed in the eight-month-old European conflict that would become known as the First World War.

Leon Thrasher, a 31-year-old mining engineer and native of Massachusetts, drowned when a German submarine, the U-28, torpedoed the cargo-passenger ship Falaba, on its way from Liverpool to West Africa, off the coast of England. Of the 242 passengers and crew on board the Falaba, 104 drowned. Thrasher, who was employed on the Gold Coast in British West Africa, was returning to his post there from England as a passenger on the ship.

The Germans claimed that the submarine’s crew had followed all protocol when approaching the Falaba, giving the passengers ample time to abandon ship and firing only when British torpedo destroyers began to approach to give aid to the Falaba. The British official press report of the incident claimed that the Germans had acted improperly: “It is not true that sufficient time was given the passengers and the crew of this vessel to escape. The German submarine closed in on the Falaba, ascertained her name, signaled her to stop, and gave those on board five minutes to take to the boats. It would have been nothing short of a miracle if all the passengers and crew of a big liner had been able to take to their boats within the time allotted.”

The sinking of the Falaba, and Thrasher’s death specifically, was mentioned in a memorandum sent by the U.S. government—drafted by President Woodrow Wilson himself—to the German government after the German submarine attack on the British passenger ship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, in which 1,201 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. The note struck a clear warning tone, calling for the U.S. and Germany to come to a “clear and full understanding as to the grave situation which has resulted” from the German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany abandoned the policy shortly thereafter; its renewal, in early 1917, provided the final impetus for U.S. entry into World War I that April.
www.historychannel.com_________________Met hart en ziel
De enige echte

The Thrasher incident, as it became known in U.S. media, nearly became the start of America's involvement in World War I. On March 28, 1915, the British steamship RMS Falaba was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-28. 104 people were killed, including one American passenger—Leon Chester Thrasher, a 31-year-old mining engineer from Massachusetts.

The pirate who ordered the sinking of the Falaba is Commander Schmidt of the German submarine U-28. He has given his version of the murder of the Falaba's passengers to Mr J. J. Ryan, a United States cotton broker, who met him recently in Bremen, writes the special correspondent of the Evening News in New York.
Commander Schmidt assured Mr Ryan that the officers of the Falaba were mistaken in thinking that the crew of the U-28 laughed and jeered at the drowning women and children.
‘Such an impression is most cruelly unjust to my men,’ the pirate commander observed gravely. ‘My men were crying, not laughing, when the boats capsized and threw the people into the water.’
According to Mr Ryan, Commander Schmidt humanely expressed ‘regret’ that he was compelled to torpedo the Falaba in view of the fact that there were passengers aboard.
He supplied Mr Ryan with the following timetable of his leniency. ‘I warned the captain of the Falaba to dismantle his wireless apparatus,’ he said, ‘and gave him ten minutes in which to do it, and also to get out his passengers.
‘Instead of acting upon my demand, he continued to send out messages to torpedo boats that were less that twenty miles away to come to his assistance as quickly as possible.
‘At the end of ten minutes I gave him a second warning about dismantling the wireless apparatus and waited twenty minutes.
‘Then I torpedoed the ship, as the torpedo-boats were getting close up, and I knew they would go to the rescue of the passengers and crew.’

Around 104 people perished when a German U-Boat (UB 28) captured and torpedoed the liner, SS Falaba. The same U-Boat is believed to have sunk the SS Aguila the previous day. Press reports at time reported that after the attack, the submarine crew callously fired on survivors in the water and in lifeboats. This community remembers those who died and some of the survivors.

We are in the Straits now. - Bab el Mandeb - with a splendid Arabia on one side, and a dull damp Persia on the other. I wonder why Arabia is the best-looking land, however you see it. I suppose it is the name that does it.

We have been about ten days at sea, and have perhaps two more, I suppose. A comfortable-going ship, where they leave one alone, and easy water. Rather cold some days, but generally mild and pleasant. There hasn't been much to see. A long-continued line of Arabian hills on the left, some Red Sea Islands, no more than rocks, and Aden, which is a jagged rim of coloured cliffs sticking up out of the water... no beach, no flat land, but very beautifully coloured, and striated, with deep polished ravines. From the sea it was splendid, but it would be hot to live in on the sheltered side, where the little port is.

Flying fish are little things like minnows, that splash off the water like a flung stone. They look pretty at night, when it is phosphorescent, for then they leap away from the ship in jagged flights, splashing out constellations of stars.

I won't write to you from Basra I expect. I will be very busy ashore, and will make my way back probably by the boat which would carry the mail. Unless I have fortune to return at the same time as the flagship, in which case I will go twice as fast. We will take about twelve or thirteen days this trip.

I hope Bob is better. Diphtheria seems to be a very unpleasant ailment: however you will not be sorry to have him sitting at home for a bit.

Tell Arnie that Heredia (in my house) is a man who paints pictures in words as perfectly as ever they have been done in colour. Let him get fond of Hypnos. There is more in that little head in the bronze room than came out of Phigaleia. If the Ashmolean is still open let him try and understand those broken heads by Scopas. It is an education which takes time.

I expect Mr. Hogarth is in Egypt now. I want to bring Gertrude [Bell] back with me, and our Arabian office will be complete.

Sunday, March 28, 1915.
Yesterday the Emperor showed Sazonov a letter he had just received from Prince Gottfried von Hohenlohe, who is now Austro-Hungarian Ambassador in Berlin after twelve years' service as military attaché at the Royal and Imperial Embassy in Russia.

Recalling the friendly spirit the Emperor has always shown him, Prince Hohenlohe says he is prepared to answer for the pacific views of the court of Vienna; he has therefore suggested to the Tsar that a confidential envoy should be sent to Switzerland to confer with an emissary from the Emperor Francis Joseph; he has no doubt that the basis of an honourable peace could easily be found.

"This letter," said Sazonov, " shows that the moral of Austria is very low; but no reply will be sent. Old Francis Joseph is not yet tired enough of the war to accept the terms we should impose."

I said nothing, as Delcassé has instructed me never to utter a word which might induce Russia to think that we do not abandon Austria to her in toto. But how, and by what mental aberration, is it that our people will not realize the enormous importance to us of detaching the Hapsburgs from the Teutonic coalition? Is our military situation so favourable as all that? Can the doubtful help we are expecting from Italy ever be worth as much as the immediate and irreparable loss to Germany which the defection of Austria would involve?

28 March 1915Young Miner Killed – James Murgatroyd, 16, miner, who resided at Lightburn Road, Cambuslang, died in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary on Sunday as the result of injuries sustained in an accident at Messrs Dunlop & Co's Newton Colliery on Friday. The lad was employed underground when he was struck on the stomach by a bogey. [Hamilton Herald 3 April 1915]

Owen was born on 23 February 1890 at Kiama and was educated at Windsor Grammar School and Kogarah High School. A bank clerk before beginning training in agriculture at the Government Experiment Farm at Nyngan, he served for a period in the citizen forces and on 27 August 1914 was commissioned second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, A.I.F. The battalion left Sydney in October and arrived in Egypt in December. During this time he was appointed assistant adjutant and when the adjutant was killed on the first day of the Gallipoli landing he succeeded him. He was promoted captain on 4 August 1915. During the fighting at Lone Pine he won the Military Cross and was also mentioned in dispatches. Casualties were heavy and on 5 September he was promoted temporary major and assumed temporary command of the battalion. He was wounded on 9 September but remained on duty. Having revealed his ability as a fine trainer and organizer, Owen was confirmed in rank on 1 December. For a short period in Egypt after the evacuation he was temporarily superseded in command.

The 3rd Battalion arrived in France on 28 March 1916 and Owen was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 12 May. In July and August the battalion fought bloody battles at Pozières and Mouquet Farm during which time Howell-Price set a magnificent example of courage, always visiting the most forward positions. For his leadership he was awarded the D.S.O. and mentioned in dispatches again. On 3 November 1916, near Flers, he was shot in the head and he died next day. His last words were 'Give my love to the battalion'. He was buried at Ancre-side Wood, and a commemorative service was held at Flesselles attended by the whole unit. Probably because of his youth, Owen Howell-Price took his responsibilities too seriously to be popular with his officers and men, but underlying his sternness and austerity was a deep and single-minded loyalty to his unit.

http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090714b.htmWelcome to the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australia's pre-eminent dictionary of national biography. Here are over 10,000 scholarly biographies of persons who were significant in Australian history. _________________
“Stop whining.”
– A. Schwarzenegger

28 March 1916
By Dick on March 28, 1916 11:59 PM It seems to have been an even hotter day if possible than yesterday. I rode out to the guns this morning. Saw another hoopoe; he pitched quite close to us. This afternoon we had various swimming stunts amongst ourselves in the canal, and impossible bets - I ended up 30/ down so it wasn't a very profitable afternoon.

This evening the divisional band came and played to the brigade - two bands, one bagpipes and the other a brass band. I believe they are going to come and cheer us up three times a week. A very big camel corps of about five hundred camels with Indian troops have been resting close to us all day; they went away again this afternoon.

We've had no fresh meat now for about a week. They say four meat transports have been sunk and we aren't likely to get any for a long time, but we are existing very well on "bully" disguised various ways.

Several of the men have now got chameleons and are trying them on different backgrounds to see how many different colours they can change. One man caught a snake of sorts yesterday, I don't know what sort he is - sand coloured and about three feet long. They gave him a small chameleon to eat yesterday and the bulge was still visible today.

There are a good many scorpions about and several of the men have shaken them out of their blankets; I hope I don't get one in my flea bag.

Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTT asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in December last, the editor of the "Glasgow High School Magazine" applied for a licence to post copies of the magazine to subscribers in neutral countries; and whether the licence can now be granted?

Mr. MACPHERSON I am sorry that this letter was overlooked accidentally, and a reply is now being sent. School magazines contain much information useful to the enemy (e.g., details of dates and localities in casualty lists, letters from 401 the front, etc.), and it has been necessary to refuse all applications for permits to export them under Defence of the Realm Regulations, No. 24 B.

A boy of eleven charged with the theft of clothes is said to have stolen
the notebook of the policeman who arrested him. His first idea was to pinch
his captor's whistle, but he rejected this plan on finding that the
policeman was attached to it.

Russian soldiers under the new _regime_ will be allowed to smoke in the
streets, travel inside trains, visit clubs and attend political meetings.
There is a very strong rumour that they will also be allowed to go on
fighting.

The KAISER, it appears, is much annoyed at the CROWN PRINCE and the way he
has mis-managed so many brilliant opportunities. It is even suggested in
some quarters that the KAISER has threatened, if LITTLE WILLIE does not
improve, to abdicate in his favour.

With reference to the taxi-cab which stopped in the Strand the other day
when hailed by a pedestrian, a satisfactory explanation is to hand. It had
broken down.

The five divisions of the Australian Imperial Force, now organised into the Australian Corps, had spent the winter of 1917–18 in Belgium. As this new crisis developed on the Somme, Australian units were hurried south to help hold back the German advance. On 27 March 1918, elements of the Fourth Division took up positions around Dernancourt. This village on the River Ancre is on the south-western outskirts of Albert which had been occupied by the Germans. On 28 March, the Germans attempted to resume their advance. In the morning mist the Germans came out of Albert along the railway line. They were initially single-handedly resisted by Sergeant Stanley McDougall, 47th Battalion (Queensland and Tasmania).When the Germans succeeded in securing a foothold in the Australian line, Sergeant McDougall, again single-handed, charged the German position. He killed seven and captured a machine-gun which he turned on the attackers, routing them and causing many casualties. He continued his attack until his ammunition ran out, then seized a bayonet and charged again, killing three men and an officer. Then, using a Lewis machine gun, he killed many more of the enemy and made it possible for thirty-three prisoners to be taken. McDougall’s action saved the situation and for his bravery he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

On that day, fighting spread along the whole front between Dernancourt and Albert. The 48th Battalion (South Australia and Western Australia) and the 12th Machine Gun Company supporting a British unit were strongly attacked but all attacks were beaten back. British and Australian artillery interfered with German attempts to rally troops and to bring forward support troops for further assaults. One German attempt to mount an attack was ruined by what Charles Bean, the Australian official historian, called ‘a rather strange occurrence’. As the Germans were massing for the attack, a chance shell caused an old British ammunition dump to explode. The noise was deafening and the Germans scattered. By this time the Australians, who had had three days and three nights of moving, marching, digging, fighting and little sleep, were nearly exhausted. However, rain which began with a drizzle in late afternoon, became heavier during the night and made further German attacks unlikely. The Australians were soon withdrawn from the line for a rest.

Stanley Robert McDougall VC, MM, (23 July 1889 -7 July 1968) was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was 27 years old and a sergeant in the 47th Battalion (Queensland), Australian Imperial Force during the First World War when he performed the following actions for which he was awarded the VC.

On 28 March 1918 at Dernancourt, France, when an enemy attack succeeded in securing a foothold in the Allied line, McDougall charged the second wave single-handed, killing seven and capturing a machinegun, which he turned on the attackers, routing them and causing many casualties. He continued his attack until his ammunition ran out, when he seized a bayonet and charged again, killing three men and an officer. Then, using a Lewis gun, he killed many more of the enemy and made it possible for 33 prisoners to be taken. His prompt action saved the line and halted the enemy advance.

Eight days later he repelled another enemy attack at the same spot, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.

("Awarded Military Medal when during another heavy attack he was able to get a gun to an exposed position and bring deadly fire into the attacking Germans at close quarters from a flank. Enemy fire struck the gun and disabled it, but McDougall crawled about 300 metres to obtain another gun and continued to engage the enemy. During an Australian counter-attack which followed, McDougall?s platoon commander was killed and he commanded the platoon for the remainder of the battle." - http://www.awm.gov.au/units/people_8278.asp)

McDougall died on 7 July 1968 in Scotsdale, Tasmania and is buried at Norwood Crematorium, Canberra. A street in Canberra is named after him.

The focus of the German attack changed again on the 28th. This time, in an attempt to get the direction of the offensive back on track, it was the Third Army, around Arras, that would be the target of Operation Mars. Twenty nine divisions attacked Byng’s army, and were defeated in a day. In contrast, Ludendorff's troops, advancing from the original front at St. Quentin, had penetrated some 40 miles deep into British lines by this time, having reached Montdidier. The result was that General Rawlinson replaced General Gough on the 28th, despite the latter having organized a long and reasonably successful retreat given the conditions. Andrew Roberts, a British historian, wrote of this,

The offensive saw a great wrong perpetrated on a distinguished British commander that was not righted for many years. Gough's Fifth Army had been spread thin on a forty-two-mile front lately taken over from the exhausted and demoralized French. The reason why the Germans did not break through to Paris, as by all the laws of strategy they ought to have done, was the heroism of the Fifth Army and its utter refusal to break. They fought a thirty-eight-mile rearguard action, contesting every village, field and, on occasion, yard ... With no reserves and no strongly defended line to its rear, and with eighty German divisions against fifteen British, the Fifth Army fought the Somme offensive to a standstill on the Ancre, not retreating beyond Villers-Bretonneux.

The northern part of the German attack against the Third army was less successful than the rout of the Fifth. Von Below’s Seventeenth Army east of Arras only advanced two miles during the entire offensive, largely due to the important gain of Vimy Ridge in 1917, which provided a firm northern anchor for the British during the German push. Although Below made more progress further south of Arras his troops posed less of a threat to the stronger Third army than the Fifth Army faced, largely because trench defenses to the north were better and crossing the old Somme battle field was more difficult terrain. More to the point, after the successes of the first day, Ludendorff failed to make the most of his stormtroopers. As already stated these elite units were supposed to lead the attack, advancing quickly through weak points (bypassing the strongholds) and so get far behind the British lines as quickly as possible. Ludendorff expected that this would allow his troops to advance five miles on the first day and capture the Allied field guns but he lacked a coherent follow through to these tactics. This was expressed in a now famous remark to Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, "We chop a hole. The rest follows". Ludendorff's dilemma was that the parts of the allied line he needed to break most were also the best defended. Much of the German advance was achieved quickly all right but in the wrong direction, where the Fifth Army's defenses were weak. The strategically significant areas which would have allowed the move north west and the taking of Arras were defended by the more experienced Third Army in better trenches. Because of this, when ever Ludendorff tried to keep the direction of the offensive on track, he wasted his forces by attacking strongly entrenched British units. For example, Operation Mars above, was hastily-prepared to try and widen the breach in the third Army lines, and was repulsed achieving little but German casualties.

The Herts war diary reads:

28-3-18. The position gained was held stubbornly against all enemy attempts to retake it. On the morning of the 28th orders were received for a speedy evacuation of this line. The enemy at this point was well in our rear in possession of LAMOTTE so that the withdrawal had to be done quickly. The Bn showed the utmost resource during this dangerous manoeuvre, loosing (sic) very few men. The retirement took place in daylight through HARBONNIERS & CAIX. At the latter place the Bn attacked the enemy successfully but thereafter had orders to retire on COYEUX where it again assembled in a counter attack in which the acting Commanding Officer was wounded. During the day rearguard actions took place along the river bed to IGNAUCOURT. In the evening the Bn went into trenches in front of AUBERCOURT.

Thursday 28 March 1918 Roll of Honour
BENNETT - in France, Charles, - eldest son of late G.T.Bennett of Little Akaloa, and Mrs GAHAGAN -- in his 46th year. --
GADD - in France --- March 15th 1918, George --- son of C. and S. Gadd, Barr Hill, aged 26 years. ---
TULLEY - March 20th --- London -- Driver Frederick Edward Tulley -- son of J,W. and M.J.Tulley, in his 29th year ---

Speculation quickly turned to causes of the fire and subsequent explosion. The most favoured initial suggestion as to cause of the explosion was an acetylene gas leak from the lighting system used in the store.

Carbon deposits on charred timbers were said to be hallmarks of a gas explosion, but the store owners reported they had turned off the gas when locking up for the evening and no one had reported smelling gas either at the outset of the fire or during the recovery effort inside the store during the fire.

Certainly, it was said, if there had been any hint of gas, the helpers would have stayed out of the store when no life was otherwise at risk from the fire.

As to the cause of the fire preceding the explosion, it was said to be a mystery.

(No image at present)
En daaronder: Picture courtesy of Claire Warren, great granddaughter: My great-grandfather Harry enlisted with pre-existing TB which had already killed half of his East End family, but after some time fighting at the Front, he was gassed; this shredded the last of his lungs and he was medically discharged with a Silver War Badge. Dying a civilian some months later, he is not commemorated on any memorial and his grave lay unknown and unmarked for ninety years until I found him again. He was a gentle, kind, brave brave man and I couldn't possibly be more proud of him, or more grateful. Harry is my hero. (Claire Warren)

Mr. HADYN JONES asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Private Norman Humphreys, of the 13th Platoon. No. 2 Camp, Kinmel Park; whether he is aware that on the 9th instant, when at drill, he fainted and remained unconscious for an hour, and that on the 20th instant he was ordered on parade and had to remain exposed to the cold for two hours waiting for medical attention; whether he is aware that Humphreys was not admitted to hospital till seen by Dr. Roberts, of Corwen; that he had a temperature of 105, and was found to be suffering from pneumonia; whether he is aware that three other soldiers were seen by Dr. Roberts and found to have similar temperatures; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with the medical officer responsible for these cases?

Mr. MACPHERSON Strict investigations are being made, and my hon. Friend will at once be informed of the result.

The Russian Revolution in March of 1917 had an electrifying effect in Germany: it removed the Russian autocracy, the bogey that had persuaded the German Socialists to support the war in 1914. Also, the Russian experience furnished a model in practice of how economic issues, like bread shortages, could be exploited to bring democratic reform, and possibly an end to the war. Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921) was keenly aware of this fact, as his note to an official in the foreign ministry makes clear.

For your personal information and appropriate temporary use.

Efforts have already been made to influence the press along the lines ordered by His Majesty. I am paying all the more attention to this matter, because the Russian revolution naturally occupies the entire public intensely. The Social Democrats cannot be prevented from expressing their sympathy for the Russian revolutionaries; apart from the most radical wing, however, if my hopes are fulfilled, they can be prevented from comparing our situation with the Russian. The spread of antimonarchical tendencies does not seriously worry me for the time being. The position of the monarchy is strongly rooted in the broad masses of the people. A direct danger would, however, emerge if one were to label democratic demands, which are an unavoidable consequence of this war, simply as antimonarchical and if, as was common before the war, one were to recognize only the reactionaries as reliable pillars of the throne. Even military circles are going to have to convince themselves of this truth. A reactionary military dictatorship would lead us toward destruction. The course of events can make the satisfaction of democratic demands necessary during the war itself, in which case it is possible that the length of the war, the severity of sacrifice, and in the end developments in Russia, too, will make concessions appear insufficient that would have seemed adequate during the first year of the war. Without giving in to nervousness, one must be aware that a “too little” or “too late” can become fatal.

World War I greatly affected and touched the lives of nearly everyone in the United States. Goods like tin and gasoline had to be rationed. Thousands of men enlisted in the army, leaving their families without a male head of the household. Women were forced to fill their husbands' shoes, working in the factories or wherever else needed just to earn a dime. Hard times befell America.

The Geophysical Laboratory, too, did its part to aid the war effort, though not in a way that has been popularized by the media or legend. Up until 1914, the United States imported almost all good quality glass, from Germany. With the start of the war, however, all imports immediately ceased. As the war intensified and America increased its involvement, the need for optical glass skyrocketed. Optical glass was necessary for equipment like range-finders, field-glasses, gun-sights, and periscopes. Soldiers were placed at a higher risk without good quality glass in their instruments.

American glass companies did their best to fill Germany’s shoes. Nevertheless, efforts floundered due to the appearance of “lines”, or uneven composition, in the American-made glass. The companies just couldn’t seem to get the glass-making process right.

On March 28, 1917, the Geophysical Laboratory’s director, A. L. Day informed Carnegie Institution of Washington President Woodward that he had several key ideas for how the Laboratory could contribute to the war effort. At the forefront of these ideas was the optical glass problem. Weeks after Day’s proposal, he was approached by George Ellery Hale, a Carnegie astronomer, who was working for the National Research Council. Hale officially petitioned for the Geophysical Laboratory’s help with optical glass, which Day directly accepted.

Geophysical Laboratory scientists immediately set to work. It wasn’t long before they discovered that the primary optical glass manufacturing problem lay not in the glass itself, but on the reaction between the melted glass and the surrounding clay pot. Both materials contained silica, so material from the pot could easily dissolve into the glass mixture. This explained the appearance of “lines.” With the problem pinpointed, the scientists began to analyze American clay for a type that was not silica based.

The Geophysical Laboratory was not the only institution concentrating on the optical glass issue. Since 1915, the Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, the biggest manufacturer of American optical glass, and the National Bureau of Standards, a government agency, had been struggling with the very same concerns. Unlike the Geophysical Laboratory, their progress was slow and the results scarcely improved.

In the spring of 1917, the National Research Council devised an ingenious plan to speed up and improve the optical glass making process. The Council recommended that the National Bureau of Standards join with the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company and the Geophysical Laboratory with Bausch and Lomb to see who could produce the most good quality optical glass in a given period of time. The rivalry provided more than enough incentive for both teams.

Carnegie invested the most research in the basic physical and chemical compositions of silicates. This focus proved strategic as by October of 1917, the winner of the optical glass race was already evident. Bausch and Lomb was regularly producing almost 40,000 pounds of government-accepted glass per month. By eight months, on the other hand, Pittsburgh Plate Glass had produced none. The failure was caused by a lack of cooperation with their partner, the National Bureau of Standards. No improvement was made, and Day was soon asked to take over their operations.

Despite the gigantic success of Carnegie’s optical glass, the process was not without setbacks. The Wartime Car Administration flat out refused to provide freight cars to transport Kentucky clay to Pittsburgh. Instead, clay pots had to be shipped by express to Pennsylvania at a cost of $80 a pot, when pots only cost $20 to make. In addition to shipping troubles, Carnegie had its fair share with quarrying. After discovering the purest sand available for glass-making, the Fuel Administration destroyed practically all quarrying efforts by failing to provide enough coal to keep the plant in operation during the winter. In the end, Carnegie pulled through, but at a cost of over $175,000 to the institution.

In 1919, the Washington Evening Star reported that the National Bureau of Standards claimed sole credit for solving the optical glass problem, when the agency had, in fact, thrown in the towel after failing to achieve sufficient results. Furious, President Woodward wrote a letter to the Secretary of Commerce showing that of almost 700,000 pounds of glass made in the United States during the war, less than three percent came from companies other than Bausch and Lomb.

Day and the Geophysical Laboratory were congratulated and honored for their incredible assistance to the United States during World War I. In a speech given by President Woodward in A. L. Day’s honor, the President predicted that “the historian of the Institution will understand more clearly what has been done than our contemporaries do.” The Geophysical Laboratory saved lives by simply improving the quality of war-time optical glass. This fact leaves one to wonder what would have resulted if Day hadn’t stepped in.

World War I and the Ottoman authorities’ suspicion of the large unnaturalized Jewish immigrant population put an abrupt halt to the town’s growth. Finally, as the British Army approached Palestine, the Ottomans expelled the Jews from both Jaffa and Tel Aviv (Mar. 28, 1917). Eight months later, after the British forces occupied the area, the refugees (most of whom had been living in the Jewish agricultural colonies of the interior) were able to return home.

From the onset of World War I African-Canadians began to volunteer to serve their country in the conflict overseas. Many who volunteered for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) were turned away at the recruitment offices. In November 25, 1915 Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Fowler, Commanding officer of the 104th Battalion, requested permission to discharge twenty black recruits on the basis of race. He wrote, “I have been fortunate to have secured a very fine class of recruits and I did not think it fair to these men that they should have to mingle with Negroes”. This rejection was met with protest in the African-Canadian community.

The Canadian military decided upon a compromise of sorts in which the decision to allow African-Canadian recruits to join was left up to the individual commanding officer. “…most of them were sent to the Western Front. A few Negroes were among these troops, for individual Blacks were permitted to enlist in such local regiments as would accept them ” (as reported by historian Robin Winks). Approximately sixteen black volunteers were accepted into the 106th Battalion Nova Scotia Rifles CEF between December of 1915 and July of 1916. When the Military Service Act was passed on August 29, 1917 volunteers who had previously been turned away were now forced to go to war.

In addition, it was deemed ‘acceptable’ to form an all black battalion lead by white officers that would perform construction duties and other labour rather than armed combat. The first and only black battalion in Canadian history was authorized July 5, 1916. The No. 2 Construction Battalion, CEF, was based out of Pictou, Nova Scotia with recruits from across the country. Many local young men served in this unit as evidenced by the unit role as printed in The Black Battalion, 1916-1920: Canada’s Best Kept Military Secret by Calvin W. Ruck. The Chaplain of the No. 2 Battalion was the only Black commissioned officer in the British Forces in World War I compared to six hundred in the United States. On March 28, 1917 a force of six hundred and five black troops embarked from Pier 2 in Halifax heading to the Western Front. A recruiting station also operated out of the Parker family home in Windsor. Most served in Lajoux, Peronne and Alencon. The unit was disbanded on September 15, 1920.

Daily Telegraph, March 28 1916: The Allies convene in Paris for a conference which the Telegraph thinks will go down in history

Meanwhile the major news was the convening of what the Telegraph confidently predicted “what will prove the historic Conference of Paris” in that city, as the Allied War Council met. Not that it’s that well-remembered now.

The 17th Reserve Division (17. Reserve-Division) was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. At the beginning of the war, it formed the IX Reserve Corps with the 18th Reserve Division.

Order of battle on March 28, 1918

The 17th Reserve Division was triangularized in October 1916. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and a pioneer battalion. The order of battle on March 28, 1918 was as follows:

The Frot-Laffly landship, also Frot-Turmel-Laffly landship (French:Char Frot-Turmel-Laffly, also Rouleau cuirassé Paul Frot), was an early French experimental tank (but without tracks), or landship, designed and built from December 1914 to March 1915, preceding the design and development of the English Little Willie tank by about nine months.

The Berne International Socialist Women's Conference was held on March 26-28, 1915. The conference was called at the initiative of representatives of women's organizations that agreed with the Bolsheviks' position on the war. It was supported by Clara Zetkin, Secretary of the International Bureau of Socialist Women, who issued an appeal to the women of all countries to "struggle for peace." The question on the agenda was that of "international action of Socialist women for peace. Notwithstanding that the Bolshevik resolution was rejected for a more pacifist-oriented one, the conference was of great significance as the first genuinely international gathering after the outbreak of the war.

(...) One letter in particular has remained engraved on my mind since the day I first read it, now nearly a quarter of a century ago. Dated 28 March 1916, it was written from the trenches on the Western Front. Churchill had just watched a German artillery barrage traverse the front line. One shell exploded quite near him. Had he been hit, he wrote to his wife that night, it would have been "a good ending to a chequered life, a final gift — unvalued — to an ungrateful country, an impoverishment of the war-making power of Britain which no one would ever know or mourn." (...)

Interned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 28 March 1917. Behind her is the liner Kronprinz Wilhelm. These ships were seized when the United States entered World War I and subsequently served as USS DeKalb and Von Steuben.

In January, 1917, the House of Commons began discussing the possibility of granting women the vote in parliamentary elections. Herbert Asquith , the Prime Minister during the militant suffrage campaign, had always been totally against women having the vote. However, during the debate he confessed he had changed his mind and now supported the claims of the NUWSS , WSPU and the Women's Freedom League . On 28th March, 1917, the House of Commons voted 341 to 62 that women over the age of 30 who were householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5 or graduates of British universities. MPs rejected the idea of granting the vote to women on the same terms as men.

John Pershing's Offer to Subordinate U.S. Forces to Foch, 28 March 1918

Reproduced below is the text of the address made by U.S. Commander-in-Chief John Pershing to Ferdinand Foch on 28 March 1918 at Bombon. In his brief address Pershing offered to subordinate his forces to Foch's leadership in throwing back the spectacular German Spring Offensive launched a week earlier.

The decision to transfer overall command to Foch was taken by Allied government representatives at Doullens on 26 March. It was thus in a period of crisis that Foch was handed his (ultimately highly successful) leading role.

General John Pershing's Offer to Subordinate U.S. Forces to Ferdinand Foch, 28 March 1918 at Bombon

I have come to tell you that the American people will hold it a high honour that their troops should take part in the present battle.

I ask you to permit this in my name and in theirs. At the present moment there is only one thing to do, to fight. Infantry, artillery, aeroplanes - all that I have I put at your disposal - do what you like with them. More will come - in fact, all that may be necessary.

I have come expressly to tell you that the American people will be proud to take part in this, the greatest and most striking battle of history.

[To THE EDITOR] SIR,—It will have possibly occurred to others of your readers that the wind blowing through Ulster may, like all winds not altogether ill, blow somebody some good, even the Government. The warlike feeling seems certainly to be working up an inspired and serviceable, if not officially condoned, army. The Ulster Volunteer Force may next year be calculated by Colonel Seely (or whoever the Secretary for War may be) as a useful part of the Territorial Army. You will agree that we must make up that deficiency somehow. Perhaps the Government are already thinking of that. On the same lines, it might be worth their while to bring in a drastic Home Rule Bill for Scotland, and tear the Lowlands and the Highlands into factions; or a Bill to abolish the kilt in Scottish regiments might work the same end. Every little helps, so let us wait and see with a cheerful heart. —I am, Sir, &o., Chelsea. AN OVERSEAS ENGLISHMAN.

‘Church Parade was interrupted this morning by a really severe storm* commencing in the middle of it, it has been almost unbearable during the day.’

*Extremes in weather experienced in the Egyptian desert were nothing compared to the conditions they would face at Gallipoli. Over the 8 months of the campaign the men would face blistering heat and sub zero temperatures.

Two recent decisions have highlighted the present restrictions placed on the Island’s supply of petrol.

Shortly after the outbreak of war, new regulations came into force locally to limit the purchase and storage of petrol. The reason was twofold. First was a need to carefully manage stocks of fuel reaching the Island, which were expected to reduce considerably in view of wartime demands. Second, was a suspicion – not fully passed yet – that enemy agents based in Jersey may be stockpiling supplies of petrol for clandestine use by German submarines.

As a result of these regulations, a number of individuals recently faced prosecution under the Defence of the Realm Act for holding higher petrol stocks than permissible. The authorities are known to be considering further cases this week.

The Home Office has also recognised the importance of ensuring certain groups have access to petrol. Jersey has been advised this week to comply with a national scheme aimed at providing enough petrol for use by general practitioners. A survey of Island doctors will provide an estimate of requirements, with the Honorary Secretary of the Jersey Medical Society, Mr Henry Shore, agreeing to coordinate the responses.

Luton's great war, told by its people today: Devastating blizzard of March 1916

The worst blizzard since 1881 blocked roads and railway lines in Luton, felled large numbers of trees at Wardown Park, Luton Hoo, Putteridge Park and Leagrave and demolished part of the Luton Town FC grandstand on Tuesday, March 28th, 1916. One woman was injured by a falling branch which also damaged the roof of the Vauxhall mess-room in Kimpton Road.

The trouble began towards the close of a comparatively fine day on Monday, March 27th. The atmosphere assumed the dull, leaden appearance foretelling a heavy fall of snow, and whirlwinds of dust made the streets uncomfortable places during the late afternoon.

The ensuing driving snow was of a slushy character and, although it continued through the night, there was not a great depth on Tuesday morning. Rain during the day helped to clear the snow, but at about four o'clock in the afternoon it became evident the town was in for something exceptional.

The storm was moving southwards and trains from the north were hours overdue. One of these that should have arrived in Luton from Glasgow at 7am came in at 4pm with the driver reporting, "I have never seen a blizzard like it in 30 years experience". After 9.30pm there were no more trains from the north and on Wednesday morning they were still missing.

By 4.30pm a terrific storm was in progress in Luton and lasted unabated for two or three hours. At the Luton News office in Manchester Street an iron-framed window which caught the full force of the gale was blown in, frame and all.

By 6.30pm the Luton-Dunstable-Leighton railway line was blocked. A passenger train which left Dunstable for Luton got hopelessly snowed in at Blow's Downs and had to be dug out on Wednesday. The passengers were able to get back to Church Street station in Dunstable.

The 6.23 from Luton started out with the hope of getting through to Dunstable, but after going a as far as the Co-operative Factory had to return. It did not leave until after 7 o'clock with a double load of about 200 passengers as another train was due to leave at 7.03. The passengers had the choice of endeavouring to walk to Dunstable or remain in Luton for the night. Many of them were girl workers.

Later in the evening the storm abated almost as suddenly as it had begun, and by 10 o'clock it was a clear, starlight night.

The extent of damage was revealed on Wednesday morning. Standing in a high and exposed position at the top of Hazelbury Crescent, the Luton football ground caught the full fury of the gale.

Between five and six o'clock in the evening the wind took the roof of the grandstand off completely. Corrugated iron and wood was ripped apart and sent flying in all directions, several Great Northern railway carriages being damages by parts of the flying roof.

At Wardown Park many huge trees had been torn up by the roots, an estimated 200 trees were lost at Luton Hoo and Putteridge Park, while at the Grange, Leagrave, 29 full-grown old elm trees were brought down on a five acre site. A weeping maple at Rookwood in New Bedford Road was blown down, as were other trees in the road and also in St Mary's Road, Stockwood Crescent and Farley Road.

Fifteen telegraph poles were also blown down and blocked New Bedford Road, while the road at Butterfield Green, Riddy Lane, Bramingham Road, Marsh Road, Oak Road and New Mill End Road were among those impassable due to fallen trees. Villages such as Caddington, Woodside and Slip End also had much tree damage.

Other damage included part of a chimney on Messrs Welch's premises in Gordon Street, when a passer-by had a narrow escape; a chimney in Windmill Street was blown down; and part of a chimney on Chief Constable Teale's house in Dunstable Place fell through the roof.

Other than a woman spraining her ankle near the Bute Hospital, only one serious injury was reported in Luton. Vauxhall employee Mrs Primett, of 35 Cromwell Road, received head and leg injuries from a falling branch as she was entering the mess-room. As the works were snowed in no doctor could be obtained for her and she had to stay the night at the works under the care of a certified matron and night nurse.

There were, however, two deaths near Hitchin. George Jackson, a Breachwood Green farmer, was found dead underneath his overturned horse cart on his journey back from Hitchin Market, and Robert Perrott, a market gardener at Stondon, was found unconscious and later died near Hitchin.

Also outside Luton, a Red Cross train carrying 132 wounded soldiers, including 90 serious cases, from France to a hospital in Leicester became stuck in snow drifts for many hours. A journey of six hours eventually took 29 hours, and when food and water supplied gave out a van filled with full milk churns was commandeered for the hungry patients.

The problems for travellers were highlighted by Mr and Mrs G. Elgar, from Scarborough, Yorks. Mrs Elgar, formerly Miss Cissie Sell from Luton, was travelling back home to run the sweet stall at the Luton Guild of Kindness which she had run since it first started. The couple left Scarborough at one o'clock on Tuesday and got as far as Leeds. Then, after a wait, they were brought to Leicester and later to Market Harborough. There they had to wait two hours and were then sent back to Leicester, which was reached at 8pm.

They spent the night on the Leicester station platform and in waiting rooms. On Wednesday afternoon at one o'clock they and other stranded passengers were sent across to Rugby, where there was another wait of four hours. Then they gradually got down the line to Bletchley and Leighton Buzzard, and finally reached Luton about midnight, 35 hours after they started out and obviously too late for the event they hoped to attend.

Tsar Nicholas II succumbs to pressure from pressure from the Empress and Rasputin and dismisses Russian War Minister General Alexei Andreyevich Polivanov. Polivanov is replaced by Quartermaster General Dmitry Savelich Shuvaev, who is generally perceived as ineffective. The Allies see Polivanov’s dismissal as a major blow to the Russian war effort.